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Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Free Shipping Starts April 18th for all Viv Biz Club Members!

We’re very excited to announce that as of April 18th, 2011 Viv Biz Club members will have access to free shipping with all of our suppliers. Our members have always received free shipping on orders with Office Depot, but now all orders for World Centric’s compostable food packaging will also receive free shipping!

This is a big win for our members and it’s something we’ve been working on for quite some time.World Centric will be shifting over to a pricing structure known as “delivered pricing.” Essentially this means that prices will include the cost of shipping, and as a result, all orders will receive free UPS ground shipping and World Centric’s prices will be moving up by 14% (UPDATE: PRICES ON VIVBIZCLUB.COM ARE ALL ACCURATE AND UP TO DATE).

Now don’t fret too hard about this price increase. We’ve done the math and the free shipping will more than offset the price increases.

Here’s how it breaks down by geography:

SF / Bay Area Businesses – It’s a wash. Your pricing, in effect, will not change.

West Coast Businesses – You save an additional 3-5%.

Mountain Region Businesses – You save an additional 3-5%.

Southwest Businesses – You save an additional 5-13%.

Midwest Businesses – You save an additional 13-17%.

Northeast Businesses – You save an additional 17%.

Southeast Businesses – You save an additional 17%.

Let’s take a look at a few regions in a little more depth to understand exactly how this math works:

The Northeast region, for example, was currently averaging shipping rates of ~28%!! (I know, way way too high). So when you net that against a 14% price increase, businesses in the Northeast should see an additional savings of 14%. Now on top of that, our standard 20% off discount with World Centric will also be applied to a purchase price that’s 14% higher than it used to be… that’s an extra savings of 3% (=20% X 14%… or 2.8%). Thus business in the Northeast region should save an additional 17% with the switch to free shipping & delivered pricing.

As another quick example, our SF / Bay Area customers were paying shipping rates of ~11% (World Centric is based in Palo Alto, so their rates were much lower). Prices are now going up by 14%, but we also have to add in the additional 3% in savings since our discount now applies to a higher purchase price. Thus an 11% savings on shipping costs + another 3% savings – a 14% price increase… means the move to free shipping & delivered pricing is a wash. If you’re a member in the Bay Area, your pricing, in effect, will not change.

Again, we’re extremely excited about this move and we’re very confident that no one’s prices are going up… and that in the vast majority of cases you should see significant additional savings. Beyond that, we hope this will make it easier for you to compare our prices against other retailersand to be sure (as we are) that the Viv Biz Club has the lowest prices available for eco-friendly supplies.

Lastly, we’d like to say thank you to 2 sets of folks:

First, thank you to all of our members who have shared feedback on shipping rates over the past few months. That feedback has been incredibly valuable and we’re constantly looking for ways to improve the program – keep it coming.

Second, a big hug and a sincere thank you to our partners at World Centric. They’re constantly looking for ways to improve their products & service and this is just another example of how much they give back to their community and their customers.

If you have any questions don’t hesitate to reach us below in the comments or drop us a line at Partners@VivBizClub.com! And here’s to a more sustainable, and more profitable business.